108 Beads of the Japa Mala

Those who are aware of the Hindu rosary or the ‘Japa Mala’ for counting of Mantras
must be aware that there are 108 beads in the mala, and it has a staunch reason
behind it.

A circular pizza may be compared to the sky. Cutting a pizza into 27 equal parts
would cover a span of 360 degrees correspondingly in the sky which we address as
the zodiac. Each Nakshatra too would thus measure an arc of 13.20 degrees in the
Zodiac.

The ancient Indian astrologers have always preferred precision in their studies. They
have further subdivided this arc of 13.20 degrees into four parts of 3.20 degrees
each known as ‘Padas’. So we now have 27 x 4 = 108 Padas. This is the reason for
108 beads in the ‘Japa Mala’. It is a belief that when a person recites one full mala of
108 mantras, he asks for forgiveness and also requests for blessings from each part
of the zodiac which influence every small and big affair of human existence. In short,
asking for grace from the Omnipresent, Omniscient and the Omnipotent Lord under
whose domain the whole zodiac is contained. In same way, in the scriptures, the
Nakshatras too are considered to be divine beings, worthy of being worshipped
through the Lords of these Nakshatras who are the Navgrahas or the nine planets in
Hindu Astrology.

In other words, we have 27 Nakshatras with four charans each. Multiply 27 x 4 and
you get 108. So when you take 108 names of the Lord, you are practising remedial
measures for every planet in your chart, because all the Lords of these charans are
nothing but manifestations of the Supreme itself. 108 Padas mean all the degrees of
the Zodiac covered. By taking 108 names of the Lord, you have paid obeisance to all
the portions of this Universe.